I caught a very interesting opinion piece in the 27 February issue of the Providence Journal about how, once again, Finnish 15-year old students were rated the best in the world in math and science by the Program for International Student Assessment. You can read the article by Walt Gardner here.

What struck me about Gardner’s description of Finnish schools was not just that they are so incredibly effective, but that they seems to be doing precisely the opposite of what our schools are doing. And, in case you haven’t noticed, American kids are not doing so well in math and science.

Here are some specifics:

Finland considers education to be an end in and of itself, not just as a means to a better job or snob appeal. This view of education is fundamental and infuses every level of their educational system. Take that attitude and wear it on your sleeve in American society and you will probably be considered quaint or quixotic at best, naive or a potential slacker at worst.

I consider this to be the key. Many years ago I wrote a paper for a class on the question of literacy in the ancient Near East. The question was, how widespread was the ability to read and write. One question that I investigated was whether the difficulty of the writing system had anything to do with literacy generally. Were Phoenicians or Israelites more likely to be literate because they used a phonetic alphabet instead of a complex syllabic system like Akkadian cuneiform? Information was lacking, but I found that in modern societies the difficulty of the language system made almost no difference. What mattered was the value society placed on literacy. Societies that placed a premium value on literacy had literate populations.

Finland spends less than we do per student. There are no gifted programs, classes average about 30 students, and students don’t start school until they are seven.

Finland must contend with a surprising (for Americans, anyway) range of diversity among their students, with a rapidly growing immigrant population; right now about 11% of students are immigrants. But by 2015 more than half of students in Finland are expected to be from abroad.

Respect for teachers in Finland, especially compared to the United States, borders on veneration. Teaching is considered a favorite profession among students in a recent survey, and teacher training institutions receive far more applications than they can accept. Finnish teachers enjoy a tremendous degree of latitude compared to their American counterparts.

But the real kicker for me was the lack of testing. There are no national standardized tests. Nada. Just a series of tests carried out on a sampling of 10% of the students. No ranking or comparing schools. No shame trips. Test results are confidential. Clearly Finland does not adhere to the school of thought that any social problem can be fixed if one applies the right intimidation, negative feedback, or punishment.

Here, to my mind, is the money quote:

“What ultimately emerges from studying Finland is the realization that the reform movement in America is based on a business model fundamentally at odds with the education model used by a country with the world’s finest schools.”

Garner points out that trying to apply the Finnish experience directly to American schools is not a guarantee for success, but it is clear that we are doing as much wrong as they are doing something right. What’s worse is that in this election year, we seem to be hell-bent on doing more of precisely what the Finns aren’t doing. If that continues look for more frustration and failure in our educational system.